The invention relates to an electrical connection device, comprising a first rigid insulating support relative to which there can be guided, parallel to a direction of introduction and extraction, a second rigid insulating support provided with conducting connection tracks, and which carries, on the one hand, resilient contact members each having one end fixed relative to the first support and adapted to engage resiliently, through an active region of the contact member, with a suitable resilient force, a respective one of the conducting connection tracks on the second support when one of the two supports has been introduced inside the other, and on the other hand a control mechanism operable to act on the resilient contact members alternately in a sense causing opening of the contacts and a sense causing closing of the contacts. The invention relates more particularly, but not exclusively, to connection devices for printed circuit boards, the first support then consisting of a frame in which there can be guided a printed circuit board forming the second support. In order to simplify the description, the invention will be described hereinafter essentially in this mode of application.
The above-mentioned mechanism provides a solution to the problem of "opening" the contact members just before and during the introduction of any board into the connection device and just before and during the extraction of such a board from the device, that is to say the problem of removing the active regions of the contact members from the volume then swept by this board, in such a manner as to make substantially zero the force necessary for the introduction or the extraction of the board and to relieve from all wear by friction the protective coverings both of the contact members and of the conducting connection tracks of the board. Of course, once the board has reached its working position, the mechanism in question "closes" the contact members, that is to say causes them to bear resiliently through their active regions against the corresponding connecting tracks of the board, which tracks are generally provided on both faces of the board.